Dear list members,

The Social Science Research Council and Temple University Japan cordially invite you to a lecture on History, Territory and Japan’s Diplomatic Isolation in East Asia, given by Thomas U. Berger, 2011 Abe Fellow and Associate Professor in International Relations at Boston University.

Please find the details below.

History, Territory and Japan’s Diplomatic Isolation in East Asia

Speaker Thomas Berger
Associate Professor, Department of Int’l Relations, Boston University/ Abe Fellow 2011

Moderator Robert Dujarric

When? Tuesday, November 27 19:00-21:00 p.m.

Where? Temple University, Japan Campus, Mita Hall 5F
(http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)

Notes: The presentation will be in English. Admission is free.

This event is jointly sponsored by the Social Science Research Council Tokyo Office and Temple University, Japan.

RSVP by sending this form by email or fax. Your colleagues and friends are also welcome. No RSVP is required if you decide to participate at the last minute.

Email: icas@tuj.temple.edu Fax: 03-5369-6142

Name _______________________________ Affiliation _______________________________ Tel/Fax _____________________________ Email __________________________________
Contact
SSRC Tokyo Office
Tel：03-5369-6085 ssrcABE@gol.com
Institute of Contemporary Asia
Temple University
icas@tuj.temple.edu

SSRC- Temple University Lecture November 27, 2012 By Prof. Thomas Berger History, Territory and Japan’s Diplomatic Isolation in East Asia Japan’s relations with neighboring countries have been rocked periodically by controversies over historical issues. Beginning with proposed revisions to Japanese textbooks, followed by Nakasone’s 1985 visit to Yasukuni, differences between the understandings of the past in Japan and neighboring countries have disrupted regional politics. Over time, the frequency and intensity of disputes over history has increased. Most recently, these differences have been linked with other issues, such as the territorial disputes over Dokdo/Takeshima and the Senkaku/Diaoyutai islands.
Actual militarized confrontations have not broken out and are unlikely. Nonetheless, the history issue has diminished the prospect of deeper regional integration, increased feelings of threat and distrust, and created the possibility for inadvertent escalation. With relations with Russia still stymied over the Northern Territories and recent Taiwanese involvement in the Senkakus dispute, Japan looks increasingly isolated in the region.
What are the forces that create acrimony over history?
Why have historical issues become more acrimonious over time, even though the events that gave rise to them have receded further in the past? And what, if anything, can Japan and other countries do to defuse or at least manage the history problem?

Biographical Information
Thomas Berger received his Ph.D. in Political Science from MIT. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at Boston University and a visiting Professor at Keio University while on Abe Fellowship from the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). He is the author of Cultures of Antimilitarism: National Security in Germany and Japan (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998) and War, Guilt and World Politics after World War II (Cambridge University Press, 2012) as well as co-editor of Japan in International Politics: Beyond the Reactive State (Lynne Rienner, 2007). He has published extensively on East Asian and European security, international migration issues, and the politics of historical memory.

Sincerely,

SSRC Tokyo Office
Japan Foundation Bldg. 5F
4-4-1 Yotsuya, Shinjuku, Tokyo

Takuya Toda-Ozaki
Jean-Francois Roof